This Instagram Star Is on a Mission for Ultimate Hair Enlightenment

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Photo: Courtesy of Vanessa Wright / @thebazaarbohemian

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Photo: Courtesy of Vanessa Wright / @thebazaarbohemian

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Photo: Courtesy of Vanessa Wright / @thebazaarbohemian

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Photo: Courtesy of Vanessa Wright / @thebazaarbohemian

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Photo: Courtesy of Vanessa Wright / @thebazaarbohemian

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Before the dawn of YouTube tutorials and Instagram stars, finding black role models in the media with naturally textured hair wasn’t always easy. That’s why the television show Girlfriends, which premiered in 2000 starring Tracee Ellis Ross, made such an impact on a young Vanessa Wright, who was then living in the Bay Area. “They all had different hair types,” remembers the Atlanta-based founder of community-oriented fashion and beauty hubs Bazaar Bohemian and Project Tribe. “There was this natural carefreeness to how each of the women kept their hair.”

Not four years later, Wright finally put to bed the weaves and sew-ins she had been wearing despite the fact that she says, “they didn’t feel right—I knew it wasn’t me.” It would be years before she landed on what did feel like a sort of visual honesty: the narrow, waist-grazing twists she began growing in 2010. Encouraged by real-life icons like Lisa Bonet, whose “inward and outward glow,” she credits with “making me love locs,” Wright found that the style provided the entirely individual stamp she was looking for. “It’s very unique, they’re like no one else’s in my life.”

These days, she also takes her cues from her husband’s Jamaican heritage. “Even though I’m not Rastafarian, I think there’s a strength in your hair coming together and showing your roots,” she says. The new style allows her the freedom to explore numerous uncontrived styles, including a messy bun that’s “never too perfect, never too stiff,” and the head wraps and crown-esque updos that come from her own lineage. A deep dive into her ancestral history revealed that her bloodline is about 83 percent Congolese, 2 percent Iranian, 2 percent Indian, and 13 percent European. “It helps to connect to your lineage. If you know where you come from and what you come from—kings and queens and tribes—you’re going to hold your head a little higher and walk through life a little differently.”

Six years of locs taught her that achieving length and health requires regular maintenance, including twice-annual visits to the salon to have them professionally reset, and a weekly, labor-intensive hour-long ritual of re-twisting she’s learned to love. “I have a good ginger and mint tea, sit down, put on a TV show—all of it combined is really relaxing. Even though you have to do work, it’s still very peaceful.” Four times a week she can be found massaging her scalp with a natural mixture of coconut oil, jojoba oil, a splash of lavender oil, tea tree oil, lemongrass oil, and extra-virgin olive oil, that she warms up in the microwave for ten seconds, because with just a touch of heat, “it takes better.” Natural oils, she’s found, dodge the flaky buildup that can accompany synthetic products. “You can get cakeage on locs [with those formulas]—it’s almost like fast food versus health food.”

As for the future, she’s not planning on changing her hair, but instead she’s providing a platform to inspire women with the positive imagery—and positive energy—she felt was lacking in her youth. “I started Project Tribe two years ago to create the space for people to be inspired and connect,” she says of the conversations taking place in the online platform, and at its tea party meetings and global retreats. “There are enough divides happening in the world. We needed a base to remind everyone there’s so much to connect on.”

“Dove Hair research found that 8 in 10 women feel pressure to wear their hair a certain way. In order to break down the beauty standards that prevent women from loving their hair, and celebrate all hair types, Vogue and Dove have teamed up with real women—not celebrities—to tell their inspiring hair stories. Discover more about Dove’s mission on Pinterest.”